Help me John Denver! I might be leaving on a jet plane, but my

I’m about to depart for my trip to Uganda to volunteer with Kids Club Kampala. I promised that I’d keep in touch with everyone through a regular blog, so here is Part 1. Despite my haphazard packing skills and a ’to do’ list as long as my arm I’m very excited to be working with with this particular charity. They do some great work in Kampala supporting educational activities and community development projects.

We’ve had an amazing response to our Just Giving campaign and have raised over £450. We’ve also received lots of donations of play equipment and educational supplies. It looks like we'll all be travelling to Uganda with very full bags. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. If you happen to bump into me at the airport and need a bubble wand or a frisbee then I can probably do you a good deal.

I’ll be volunteering with friends, so to prepare them for the catastrophe that is ‘travelling with Kippers, I’ve been telling them lots of stories about my previous trips. When it comes to travelling, if anything can go wrong it usually does, and even when it seems like things cant possibly go wrong, then they do anyway. On the bright side its all fodder for my books. I’m thinking about getting myself a ‘please don’t kill me, I’m a writer and haven’t finished my trilogy yet’ T’shirt so that I can wear it in an emergency.

If you want the chance to win some cool stuff from Uganda, then sign up to my newsletter. I’ll be drawing a winner when i get home. I’ll be sending the prize through the post so don’t worry there will be no Lions or Hippos turning up unannounced on your doorstep. . .and if they do it has nowt to do with me.

Part 2 of my blog will be from sunny Kampala.